1972-73 NBA Finals

Result

Games

Finals MVP

Willis Reed. Reed won his second Finals MVP award, this time as a veteran leader rather than the injury-defying performer of 1970.

Series context

The 1972-73 NBA Finals was a reversal of the previous year's matchup, with the New York Knicks avenging their loss to the Los Angeles Lakers and capturing the second championship in franchise history. New York, still coached by Red Holzman, had retooled its roster during the season, most notably trading for veteran guard Earl Monroe, who joined Walt Frazier in one of the most celebrated backcourt pairings of the era. Willis Reed, though well past his physical peak, provided steady leadership and timely scoring, while Jerry Lucas continued to be a valuable frontcourt contributor known for his outside shooting from the center position, an unusual skill for the time. The Lakers, coached by Bill Sharman, returned many of the key figures from their record-setting 1972 championship squad, including Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Gail Goodrich, and Happy Hairston, and were once again considered strong contenders to repeat. Los Angeles drew first blood in Game 1, winning a close contest 115-112 in New York. But the Knicks responded forcefully, winning four consecutive games to close out the series: Game 2 by 99-95, Game 3 by 87-83, Game 4 by 103-98, and finally Game 5 on May 10 by 102-93, clinching the title back on the road at the Forum in Los Angeles. New York's stifling team defense, disciplined ball movement, and depth proved too much for the aging Lakers core to overcome a second consecutive year. Willis Reed was named Finals MVP for the second time in his career, having also won the honor in the Knicks' 1970 championship run, joining a small group of players to win the award multiple times. The series carried additional historical weight as the final game of Wilt Chamberlain's legendary career; he scored the last points of his professional life on an uncontested fast-break dunk in Game 5, a quiet ending for one of the most statistically dominant players the sport has ever produced. For the Knicks, this title proved to be the last of the franchise's golden era; New York would not return to the Finals again until 1994 and would not win another championship for decades thereafter. The Lakers reached the Finals by rallying from behind to win a Game 7 road thriller over the Chicago Bulls in the first round, then dispatching Golden State in five games in the Western Conference Finals, a series that included a lopsided 126-70 Lakers rout in Game 3 at Oakland. New York's path was tougher: after beating the Baltimore Bullets in five games in the first round, the Knicks faced a Boston Celtics team that had gone a remarkable 68-14 in the regular season, the best mark in franchise history, in the Eastern Conference Finals. New York took a 3-1 series lead highlighted by a double-overtime win on Easter Sunday, but Boston fought back to force a Game 7, which the Knicks won on the road in Boston, 94-78, to reach the championship round. Game 4 of the Finals, played in New York, drew an announced crowd of 19,694. The series also marked the last NBA Finals broadcast by ABC until the network returned to Finals coverage in 2003, closing out a long stretch of ABC as the league's national television partner.

Sources

• Wikipedia - 1973 NBA Finals
• Basketball-Reference - 1973 NBA Finals